North Fulton has lowest unemployment rate

Far below metro average

NORTH FULTON, Ga. – All North Fulton cities have some of the lowest unemployment rates in the metropolitan area, according to numbers released by the Georgia Department of Labor for November.

Alpharetta and Roswell both came in at 5.2 percent, with Johns Creek at 5.7 percent for November.

Alpharetta is down from 5.8 percent in October, and Roswell was 5.9 percent for the same time.

Johns Creek fell dramatically from 6.5 percent in October to 5.7 percent in November.

There are no numbers available for Milton.

Atlanta’s numbers for November were 9.1 percent.

Fulton County has an unemployment rate of 7.8 percent, down from a high of 9.7 percent in June 2012. Neighboring Forsyth County is at 5.3 in November, down from a high of 6.9 in June 2012.

The state of Georgia has a November unemployment rate of 7.3 percent. The nation has a rate of 6.6 percent.

Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle chalked the news up to his city’s strong economy.

“We’ve got a great employment situation here,” said Belle Isle. “Technology is a thriving area now. On top of that, Georgia is bouncing back. These two are making the area good. We were last to go into the recession and first to come out.”

The Labor Department claimed the overall decline was due to the number of jobs increasing, and the numbers of unemployment insurance claims were down.

Metro Atlanta employers added 14,300 jobs in November, increasing the number of jobs to 2,447,600, up by 0.6 percent from 2,433,300 in October. Most of the new jobs were added in trade, transportation and warehousing, 8,600; government, 2,000; leisure and hospitality, 1,800; education and health care, 1,200; and information services and construction, 800 each.

Over the year, jobs were up by 59,200, or 2.5 percent, from 2,388,400 in November 2012.

The metro Athens area had the lowest area jobless rate at 5.1 percent, while the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 10 percent.